Hironobu Sakaguchi, legendary producer for Square Enix who notably worked on the Final Fantasy series, began producing one last love letter to the JRPGs of yesteryear for Apple Arcade in 2018. The success of Fantasian, released in two episodes in 2021, now allows it to be exported in a complete and improved version for PC and consoles. Fantasian Neo Dimension will be released on December 5, 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch. Physical versions are already available for pre-order for PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
This upgrade was carried out in collaboration between Mistwalker, Sakaguchi’s studio and Square Enix, a first since their sad separation in 2003. Many improvements are planned for this new version, including 4K graphics (for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series), a new easy mode, and voice acting in English and Japanese. Best of all, plenty of music from the Final Fantasy series has been integrated into the game, and you can choose your favorites at any time, or simply let the game decide for you.
Enough to benefit in the best conditions from the sublime artistic direction of the title, all of the decorations of which were created by hand in the form of dioramas, which were then scanned in 3D to be integrated into the game.
In Fantasian Neo Dimension, you play Leo, a young boy who becomes amnesiac after a terrible explosion. He then finds himself stuck in a parallel universe populated by machines, while the human world finds itself gradually engulfed by a mysterious infection. Quickly, you will meet people to form a team, which will help you regain your memories and save the world.
Thought to be a true ode to the JRPGs of yesteryear, while Sakaguchi imagines this game as being the last of his immense career, we obviously find in the title the classic gameplay of the genre, with turn-based combat. But these fights nevertheless offer two particularly original and innovative mechanics, designed to correct a frustration of the past.
Old JRPGs were regularly criticized for their repetitiveness and the notion of farming inherent to the genre. In Fantasian Neo Dimension, you can “store” the enemies you encounter in the Dimengeon, a sort of parallel dimension, in which you can go to fight up to 30 opponents at once, in order to benefit from exploration and the ride without being constantly interrupted by combat.
The second original mechanic is perfectly designed for this new dimension of combat, since you will be able to bend most of your spells in order to give them a different trajectory to reach several opponents at once. Enough to give rise to much more epic and interesting battles in terms of strategy, in addition to the very classic system of elemental strengths and weaknesses.
Fantasian Neo Dimension will be available on December 5, 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch.
